"I want to keep you in a world, where it's just the two of us."

The tension between them hung in the air as Caleb led her deeper into the Farspace Fleet headquarters. The stark white corridors of the facility reflected the artificial glow of the overhead lights, casting harsh shadows across their faces. Caleb walked ahead with steady, calculated steps, his posture stiff and unreadable. Occasionally, he flicked a glance behind him, where she followed in silence.

Her face betrayed everything she was feeling. Eyes wide, brows furrowed, and her lips pressed tightly together—she was struggling to process everything, after their shocking reunion. It was written all over her. Caleb felt a strange pull in his chest at the sight, but he quickly shoved it down, keeping his expression neutral, almost cold.

"Unfortunately for them," Caleb said, his voice measured, "In the Farspace Fleet, there are only soldiers and officers." His tone was indifferent, almost as if she is just another ordinary evolver—a nobody to him. But even as he spoke, his gaze lingered on her, watching how her shoulders tensed slightly, how her hands fidgeted at her sides. She was still holding on to the past, to the version of him she once knew.

He didn’t pause as he continued, "If you understand the situation, then let's go ahead and have a nice chat." His words lacked warmth, but the way he said them almost sounded like a command disguised as a suggestion. Without waiting for her reaction, he motioned for her to follow him into one of the observation rooms.

Inside, the atmosphere shifted. The sterile walls and faint hum of machinery made the space feel even colder. Caleb moved to one side of the room, his presence commanding even when he wasn’t speaking. He gestured toward a chair in the center. She hesitated for a moment before sitting down, her expression cautious.

"There’s more than one pair of eyes observing you in this room," Caleb said matter-of-factly, his violet eyes briefly meeting hers. He could tell she was unnerved but trying not to show it. Her hands gripped the armrests just a little too tightly. "It’ll be over before you know it," he added, his tone flat but not unkind.

When she looked up at him with uncertainty, his expression hardened. "Do what you’re told and don’t cause any trouble," he said, his voice dropping into an octave lower, cold and serious. "You won’t get hurt then." It was a warning, but underneath, it was worry. He’d seen too many people like her—too stubborn, too reckless—and he couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to her. Not again.

And yet, as he expected, she proved him wrong. She handled herself with precision, staying composed despite the scrutiny. Caleb leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, watching her closely. When it was over, he allowed himself a small smile, faint but genuine. That's my girl."You passed," he said simply, he hadn’t doubted her for a second.

—

But peace was fleeting. A few moments later, the situation turned critical. She ignored his earlier warning—of course she did. She always did. And now, here she was, bruised and battered, her life dangling on the edge as chaos erupted around them. Caleb’s chest tightened as he dragged her out of harm’s way, his mechanical arm bearing most of her weight. If it weren’t for the urgency of the moment, he might’ve laughed, and fondly calling out their late grandma how this 'little sister' of his is never changed. Instead, he muttered under his breath, voice haggard, "I told you. I just fucking told you earlier."

Once the immediate danger was over, Caleb found himself looking down at her, his expression caught somewhere between exasperation and reluctant fondness. She was exhausted but alive, and her eyes were locked on him again. It was always that same look—the one that questioned who he was now, who he had become.

He smirked, the corners of his mouth curling up with something that wasn’t quite humor. "You’re thinking some chip got put into my brain, right?" he said, his voice low and edged with mockery. "And how now I’m no longer the kind ‘brother’ you used to know."

There was an almost sinister tilt to his tone, but beneath it was something deeper—something unspoken. He knew what she saw when she looked at him: a stranger with familiar eyes, a man caught between the person he was and the one he had become. And though his words cut like a blade, his heart ached with a truth he couldn’t bring himself to admit.

Caleb loomed over her, his towering frame casting a shadow that seemed to swallow the sterile light of the room. His metal arm tightened around her waist, the faint hum of its inner mechanisms blending with the sharp edge in his voice.

"I held myself back," he murmured, his voice low at first but rising steadily, tinged with a dark possessiveness that had simmered beneath the surface for far too long. "To be your gentle 'brother'... I *endured*." His grip tightened as though the weight of his suppressed emotions was finally breaking through. His words spilled out faster now, each one more unrestrained than the last. "Day, after day, AFTER DAY. It was... suffocating." His violet eyes, shimmering with the faint pink hue of distant galaxies, bore into her as if searching for some understanding that he knew he wouldn’t find.

Without warning, Caleb swept her off her feet, lifting her in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. The suddenness of it left no room for resistance, and he moved with calculated precision, carrying her toward the bed. His expression softened for a fleeting moment, just long enough to lull her into confusion before he spoke again, his words taking on an unsettling calmness.

"Do you remember that injured cat you brought back home?" he asked, his tone almost nostalgic. But the memory, innocent on the surface, twisted into something else entirely. As she squirmed, her legs kicking instinctively in defiance, Caleb let out a quiet sigh. He raised his hand slightly, his Evol activating with a faint hum. The air around her legs grew heavy, pinning them down with invisible force. Gravity itself betrayed her, holding her in place conspired with him.

Caleb continued with a darkened tone, "Back when we were kids, I got a collar with a bell. That way, it couldn’t *escape* without being noisy." With calculated ease, he reached for the collar and clasped it around her neck. The click of the tracker device locking into place echoed in the silence between them.

Caleb’s gaze softened again, but it was a dangerous kind of softness—one that promised there was no way out. "This nightmare will come to an end," he said, his voice barely above a whisper but filled with quiet conviction. "I promise. we’ll always be together." His gaze lifted to meet hers, his eyes darker now, swirling with something unfathomable—obsession, protectiveness, love, and something far more complicated all blending together.

Until everything is resolved, I need to make sure you're safe and sound. So don't be afraid, no matter what happens I'll always be here for you. Caleb's genuine thought went unsaid as he crouched, pressing a lingering kiss against her leg.